Microsoft is set to release Service Pack 1 for Office for Mac 2011 next week, bringing the usual fixes, as well as new features and enhancements, including the ability to sync calendar, tasks and notes via Apple's Sync Services.

Apple is allegedly requiring sponsors of an April 12 meetup of Final Cut Pro professionals to cancel their presentations in order to reserve the stage time necessary for an official announcement of the next version of Final Cut Pro, a new report claims.

Apple's Aperture app has suddenly disappeared from the Mac App Store after weeks of sitting among the top grossing apps, suggesting a new version may be around the corner [update: now available again].

Bento, the database application for Mac OS X, was updated to version 4 on Wednesday, adding new features such as the ability to print labels, export libraries with data, add voice memos and share more easily.

Apple on Thursday removed the $99 MobileMe product from its online store and notified resellers that it has discontinued the retail box for its cloud-based syncing product, suggesting the company is prepared to launch a rumored overhaul of the service.

Buyers of Apple's new MacBook Pro lineup will get the newly out-of-beta FaceTime for Mac free with a new machine, while existing Mac users can buy the video chat software on the Mac App Store for 99 cents [updated with explanation of charge].

The official Mexican website for retailer Best Buy has a special event devoted to iWork '11 scheduled for this Saturday, suggesting an update to Apple's productivity suite could be imminent. [Update: Best Buy has removed all references to iWork '11]

Google's efforts to create a royalty-free video codec for the web are now being actively undermined by the MPEG Licensing Authority, which has announced plans to represent patent holders who claim infringement.

Adobe has publicly launched Flash Player 10.2 for Mac, Windows and Linux, an update to the Web plugin that introduces full hardware acceleration support for video which, when supported, is said to be up to 34 times more efficient.

In an effort to resolve "uncertainty around video on the web" using HTML5, Microsoft has announced a new plugin for Google's Chrome browser that adds back support for H.264 video playback, blunting Google's attempt to gain traction for WebM.